About Air Hockey
Air Hockey puts a glossy table in front of you in real 3D, your mallet in your hand and a robot waiting at the far end. Move your finger or the mouse and the mallet follows; hit the puck and it shoots away on its air cushion, cracks off the rails and flies at the robot’s goal. The robot is a proper opponent: it guards its goal, reads where the puck is going, lines up its own strikes and now and then banks one off a rail.
How to play Air Hockey
- Drag on the table, or move the mouse over it, to move your purple mallet in your half. Strike the puck towards the robot’s goal at the far end. On a phone the mallet sits just above your fingertip.
- The puck glides almost without friction, bounces off the rails and takes the speed of whatever hits it: a fast swing sends it fast, a still mallet blocks. Bank shots off the side rails get round a goalie.
- Match: first to seven goals. Rush: ninety seconds, most goals wins. The daily challenge is a rush against the day’s robot, the same for everyone. A puck kept in one half for seven seconds goes to the other side.
- The robot plays at three levels: Easy, Normal and Hard. Keyboard: the arrow keys or WASD move the mallet. Results stay on this device.
Tips & strategy
- Strike through the puck, not at it: the puck leaves with the speed of your swing, so a short fast push beats a long slow one.
- Aim at the side rails. A bank shot reaches the goal from an angle the robot has to read, and on Easy and Normal it often reads it late.
- After you shoot, bring the mallet straight back in front of your goal. Most goals against come from a mallet left out of position.
Air Hockey: questions and answers
How do I play Air Hockey on a phone?
Put a finger on the table and move it: your mallet follows, sitting a little above your fingertip so you can see it. Swing it into the puck to shoot.
How good is the robot?
It has three levels. Easy follows the puck and is slow to strike; Normal reads the puck’s path; Hard reads bounces too, moves fastest and banks its shots.
What is the seven-second rule?
A puck kept in one half for seven seconds goes to the other player. It keeps the game moving when the puck stops in a corner.